Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Some journalists from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald just returned from Rangoon. They report on some of the extreme conditions monks were forced to endure. This Australian story backs up yesterday's report in the Sunday Times that suggested injured protestors have been systematically refused medical treatment.

The treatment that has angered the monks includes lack of medical care, lack of sanitation, brutality in detention and disrespect for the Buddhist robes.

In seven days of detention, monks and civilians who were injured during the fighting received no medical attention, the young monk said.

"One monk from Nywe Kyar Yan monastery, you could see the bone in his arm but they never treated it," he said.

Another monk who had hurt an eye in fighting had now lost it. Three civilians who did not receive medical attention died at the technical institute, the young monk said.

The article continues:

The prisoners were given one meal a day, a small amount of water and no toilet facilities over seven days.

He estimated there were at least 1000 monks in the area where he was detained, most from Nywe Kyar Yan and other Rangoon monasteries, but he believed other areas on the campus were also being used to house more prisoners.

"After a week, some monks were very weak; their hands were trembling," the monk said.

The Herald reporters also noted that monks had been ordered to disrobe and put on ordinary civilian clothes.

Comment: The junta would appear to have issued orders prohibiting the treatment of the wounded. If so, the moral depravity of the men in charge of Burma is truly incomprehensible.